On June 24, 1928, he was born Ioannis Moraitis (Greek: Ιωάννης Μωραΐτης) in Volos, Greece. His parents were Demetrios and Victoria Moraitis.
Geronda Ephraim entered Mount Athos in 1947, where he was a disciple of the Athonite elder Saint Joseph the Hesychast. On July 13, 1948, he was tonsured and given the monastic name Ephraim. When his spiritual father Joseph the Hesychast died on August 15, 1959, he became the geronda (elder) of the hut of Annunciation of the Theotokos in New Skete. Ephraim soon became the head of his own brotherhood (which grew to 80 monks in 1981) and moved with them to the skete of Provata in 1968. From October 1, 1973, to 1991, Geronda Ephraim served as the abbot of Philotheou Monastery. Through the efforts of Archimandrite Ephraim, monastic life was restored in several sketes on Mount Athos, as his disciples also repopulated the monasteries of Philotheou, Xeropotamou, Konstamonitou, and Karakallou.
In 1979, Geronda Ephraim visited North American cities and met with members of the Greek diaspora.
First he visited parishes in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal). Afterwards, people started inviting him to the USA. Similar visits became regular in the United States and Canada. Finally, Archimandrite Ephraim decided to move to the United States for the spiritual nourishment of the flock and for the revival of spiritual life in the Greek Orthodox communities of North America.
